


Subtly Obvious

by CrazyNekoChan



Series: Soudam Week Summer 2019 [5]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Hinata Hajime & Kamukura Izuru Are Twins, Implied/Referenced Past Abuse, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-06-22 10:42:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19665808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyNekoChan/pseuds/CrazyNekoChan
Summary: Kazuichi works as a waiter at a pet cafe where Gundham, a young and very lonely veterinarian, begins to visit very frequently.Day 5 of theSoudam WeekPrompt: Body-Swap |Alternate Universe|Coffee/Flower/etc. Shop





	Subtly Obvious

**Author's Note:**

> In this story Hope's Peak Academy doesn't exist and none of the characters are ultimate students, they only happen to be talented. They are also aged up and are in their mid 20s

Another day had passed and Gundham could proudly proclaim that it had been a successful one. He and his subordinates had helped and assisted many hellish beasts on their way to reclaim their health and vitality, and they would continue their mission for every new day to come.

Gundham was a healer of beasts – or as mortals called him, a veterinarian – and despite the still young age of his mortal form, he was already highly accomplished at his art and he was praised for his dark skills of taming and healing even the most hellish of beasts. He had worked hard for many years to fulfil his dream and after many hardships and struggles he had finally managed to open his own veterinarian clinic. It was not huge by far, it was in fact quite small with only a few mortals under his employment – which were all hand-picked by himself for their skills – yet he could not be any more joyful about his current life. He had his loyal customers who entrusted him with the care of their beloved companions, whom he could help with his skills and he had his own hellish beasts who shared his path in life with him, which was all he could ever wish for within his life.

As long as Gundham had his small veterinarian clinic where he could dedicate his mortal existence to healing animals in need and had his own hellish beasts awaiting him at his private realm, he was content with his current life.

The travel back to his own private realm was not far. To his luck his apartment was not far from his clinic and could easily be done by foot, which made it easily possible for him to spend his longer breaks at his home. He had to admit as much as he respected his subordinates, he did not particularly enjoy spending his time with social interactions outside of their work relation. While he could spend his whole mortal time within the presence of hellish beasts, there were only a few mortals whom he could tolerate for longer periods of time before he began feeling uncomfortable. Much to his mild shame he never had been very skilled in social interactions and often ended up either being overwhelmed or not knowing that to say. It was especially hard whenever he had to interact with mortals he had never met. Yet he did in fact have some allies with whom he enjoyed spending his free time with, even if he was not entirely sure how he had managed to become their allies.

Upon arriving at his private realm, Gundham was instantly greeted by his many hellish beasts who had been eagerly awaiting his return. Their many joyous reactions filled him with immense joy as well as he greeted them all and joined them within the realm for the remainder of the day. The hours had moved on as he cared for his many hellish beasts and spend his evening in relaxation. He had played with his dark minions, fed them, had them join him during his own meal and then he had played with them some more until exhaustion began to slowly overtake his earthly form. Deciding that it was time for him to rest for the darkest of hours, he went into his sleeping quarters and after washing himself and getting changed, he got comfortable in his bed.

Despite the darkness Gundham could still see most of his surrounding within his quarters. It was silent around him as many of his hellish beasts also went to rest. He saw his two cats snuggled up together on top of his dresser, his two dogs cuddling inside of their basket at the other end of the room, and his hamsters getting comfortable together in their nest.

And he could see the empty spot next to him within his bed which felt too big for him alone, as he slowly feel into a dreamless sleep.

***

“You wish me to accompany you to where?” Gundham was not sure if he had understood his ally correctly.

“To the pet café, next to Nekomaru's gym.” the She-Cat repeated herself, yet Gundham was still not entirely sure what he was supposed to make out of it. “I wanted to visit it for a months now, yet I have never found the time before to my regret.”

Gundham's eyes turned towards the mobile phone within his hand as if this act of glancing at the device would make it possible for his ally to see his confusion, “I am not sure what a 'pet café' is?” Was it a realm where mortals brought their companions to play? “And I am also slightly confused about what had suddenly brought this subject up.” It was not rare that Sonia, who was his closes ally, invited him out to different locations on his days off, however it was an odd experience if she called him without any forewarning and began her greeting with that he should meet her at some location. Was something amiss in her private life?

“A pet café is a café where you can play with animals while eating there. Apparently all the animals in there are shelter animals and you can even adopt them.” the She-Cat explained to him, “I wanted to go with Kyoko, but she is on an undercover mission with her father at the moment and out of town. So I thought that we could go instead, since I do know how much you love animals. I would do you good to get out some more and meet some new people.”

Gundham did like the prospect of spending his time with his ally and play with shelter animals, as they are the beings in the need of the most attention. However the last part that she had said caught his attention, “What do you mean with that it would do me good to go out into the mortal realm?” He was not feeling unwell and as such did not feel the need to make new acquaintances.

“Well,” his ally began and her voice trailed off for the shortest of moments, “The truth is that I am worried about you Gundham. Over the last months you began to shut yourself in more and more, and as for late you hardly spend time with anyone any more.”

“This is not true.” Gundham quickly replied, denying the claim. He did not stop seeing his allies.

“Yes it is.” Sonia claimed with a stern voice that hardly left room for argument, “We didn't spend time together for almost a month now, and when was the last time that you went to Nekomaru's to train?”

Gundham fell silent. Now that he thought back to it, it had been a while that he had visited his ally's realm of training to strengthen his body. It had been so long that the café the She-Cat intended to visit with him had still been an empty building that had been purchasable. Gundham found himself having to admit that he did in fact not mingle within the mortal realm as much as for late. Sighing internally, he then asked his ally, “When do you wish to meet at this realm?”

Hardly an hour had passed before Gundham found himself at the location to where he was summoned by the She-Cat and upon arriving she had already been awaiting him with a cheerful wave.

“It is wonderful to see you.” the She-Cat smiled cheerfully as the two allies greeted each other. Her attention then turned towards the building in front of which she had been waiting for Gundham and in which they had had planned to spend their lunch together. “Isn't it lovely looking?”

Gundham had to admit that as far as such a kind of establishment goes, the description lovely was fitting for it. The café was located at the very corner of a quiet street and had a more of an antique style to it, which made it look like it came straight out of an animated series which he sometimes enjoyed to watch. Though what caught Gundham's eyes were the many stylized depictions of animals that adorned the windows of this establishment. When walking into the building the interior reflected the exterior in design. Only that the main dining area was also filled with seating areas for the customers, many furniture for the hellish beasts residing within the realm and many animals of different kinds that moved along the realm as if it were their home.

A few mortal guests were already sitting within the café to enjoy their meal and they were playing with the hellish beasts around them, while the staff were moving along the realm to serve the mortals that came visiting.

Gundham and his ally took a seat at one of the unoccupied tables, as his eyes were scanning the realm around him as he took a look at all the hellish beasts that occupied the realm. They all seemed to be in remarkable health and seemed content with their current home, which truly pleased him. There were many kinds of establishments that used hellish beasts for entertainment in exchange for caring for them, while there sadly were some that did not properly care for the animals.

Gundham had been so lost within his own mind that he had almost missed the She-Cat talking to him. “Did you know that there is a rumour that the barrister here is a former yakuza?” she told him with excitement as she pointed towards the mentioned mortal who was standing behind the small bar within the café and was presumably preparing an order. The man looked like nothing out of the ordinary, with short, light blond hair, freckles and a short stature, aside from the long scar along his right eye that seemed to be missing. It would not surprise Gundham if these rumours of this mortal originating from a yakuza clan came to be from whatever has happened to his eye, as Gundham himself also carried a scar along his left eye – only that his eyeball itself was luckily intact – and even more on his left arm after a few small incidents with the many hellish beasts that the tended to, which also led to many rumours of what he might have done in his past.

“Maybe Kyoko knows something?” Sonia wondered, as the one that shared her path did work as a criminal detective within her family's business and had hidden knowledge about the criminals that existed within the mortal realm. “I should ask her when she comes home.”

“Well, I know Fuyuhiko since were both were a small kids and I still wonder if he might not be a yakuza, 'cause of his constant sour mood and foul mouth.” a unfamiliar voice suddenly joked and both Gundham and Sonia quickly turned towards the source, “Sorry, I didn't want to startle ya two.”

“Oh, don't worry.” Sonia replied to the man, a waiter of this establishment based on the uniform, “I am sorry that I was so shamelessly gawking at your colleague.” she added bashfully at being caught.

Gundham however lost the ability to speak or even think when he looked at the mortal before him – or more fitting god; or seductive temptress who harboured the ability to fill even the most saint mind with sinful thoughts with just one glance of his brilliant, pink eyes. The mortal was devilishly handsome with a slim physic that was perfectly dressed up in his tight fitting uniform, wild pink hair and what seemed to be fascinatingly sharp teeth that she showed off with a cheerful smile.

The mere sight made Gundham's cursed and icy heart beat loudly within his chest and it drowned his own thoughts, making it impossible to move or react to the nameless mortal that was serving them.

***

Today's shift was mostly boring. Not that Kazuichi minded, since he liked the boring shifts where only a handful of customers came in. They were way better than the early morning, late evening and weekend shifts were the café was full to the brim and he and his co-workers had to more or less run around to serve everyone and also take care and clean after the animals. During his boring shifts he could relax and talk to his friends, while occasionally going to serve the few customers that came in and as most were more happy to play with the animals than to talk to waiters, all he had to do was make small talk while getting their order, ask if they needed anything and bill them while smiling all the time. It wasn't rocket science, only a lot of walking around and smiling. Though he did not mind rocket science, he would actually prefer it over waiting and balancing food and drinks on small trays all the time, but money was still money in the end and his food and bills sadly didn't pay themselves.

While Kazuichi was filling up one of the many food dishes for the animals, trying to not get too close to the animals themselves while doing it, he heard the bell of the main entrance ring as new customers came in and took a seat. Since Hajime was busy clearing a table and his twin brother Izuru was currently in the back to do the shift plan for the upcoming week, Kazuichi quickly finished what he was doing and made his way towards the table, where he happened to hear the young woman talking to the man with her about the rumour that Fuyuhiko was supposedly a yakuza.

This rumour was as old as can be and already made Kazuichi laugh when he and Fuyuhiko were still kids in school, because no matter how much the small guy could curse like and old sailor and had a fascination for guns and suits, he was nothing more than a huge dork who spend most of his time gushing over how much he loves his wife. Though Kazuichi guesses he himself also was a dork and truth the be told he liked dorks, evident that all of his friends are usually called dork for one reason or another by someone on a regular basis.

Since he found the rumour still quite amusing and he needed to talk to the pair anyway, he smiled at them as he joked, “Well, I know Fuyuhiko since were both were a small kids and I still wonder if he might not be a yakuza, 'cause of his constant sour mood and foul mouth.”

The pair quickly turned their attention towards Kazuichi, making him quickly say, “Sorry, I didn't want to startle ya two.” That was the last thing he wanted, because he did quite like a good tip on top of his regular wages. But at least he now could actually look at the faces of his new customers.

“Oh, don't worry.” the blond woman replied to him with a bashful smile. She looked very foreign and her voice also sounded like she only came to japan later in her life, even if she seemed to be fluent. “I am sorry that I was so shamelessly gawking at your colleague.”

“Don't worry, Fuyu is used to it.” Kazuichi jokingly reassured her, before he quickly added, “Though please don't tell him that I called him 'Fuyu', he hates it when I call him that which is why I do it.”

The woman gave a relieved chuckle at his lame jokes and relaxed again. Kazuichi then turned his attention towards her companion and he felt his heart skit a beat or two. The man with whom she was sitting together was seriously good looking, with slicked back, black hair, pale skin, a strong jaw and a very strong physic that put most of the guys to shame that visited the gym next door. He looks positively mouthwatering.

Quickly catching his thoughts again before he got caught gawking at the handsome looking customer, Kazuichi handed the pair the small menus. “Do you maybe wish for something to drink while you decide on your food? Or would you maybe wish to hear something about our animals? They are all really cute and all have different personalities, making every new visit an experience to remember.” he said his typical lines he said towards all customers, and he had to stop his voice from faltering at the end because he could personally confirm that every new day in this café was an experience to remember, since he was seriously bad with animals which made the fact that worked in a pet café very ironic. He however did need a job to get out from his former home and his friends managed to get him this one as they had been short on staff at the same time to his luck.

“Oh, I would love to hear about the animals you have here.” the woman beamed, before turning towards the man in front of her, “Don't you as well, Gundham?” So the man's name was Gundham, Kazuichi noted mentally.

The man in question however only jumped in response to hearing his name and quickly turned his for some reason heavily blushing face towards the table and mumbled something incomprehensible into the purple scarf he was wearing despite it being in the middle of summer.

Kazuichi wasn't really sure what suddenly had gotten into the guy that made him react so weirdly, however it was cute in a very odd way. Trying to get the conversation going and to please the customers, Kazuichi then began talking about the animals that were currently here, from the more calm and lazy ones, to the playful and talkative ones, all the way to the well trained ones that could perform some small tricks, going from very young to very old, all the while always mentioning that they were all up for adoption and that the informations about it could be found in the pamphlets at the entrance of the café. The woman seemed to be thrilled to hear about all the animals, while the man seemed seriously tense even if he seemed to be very interested in the many animals as well. It was quite weird, but at least the guy seemed to be sweet.

When it came to their order however it was again a bit of a struggle. The woman happily told Kazuichi her order, however the man called Gundham struggled to form words for some reason, despite that he seemed to talk normally before Kazuichi walked up towards their table. It made Kazuichi wonder if the man was just that much of a shy introvert.

To not stress the man out too much, Kazuichi quickly got their order and decided to let them be while they ate and played with the animals that seemed to flock around the cute guy. Though for some weird reason it almost seemed like the woman herself tried to keep Kazuichi at their table and get both men to talk, which was seriously odd considering how uncomfortable her companion seemed to be.

After he placed the ordered teas and pastries onto their table, Kazuichi continued his other duties. However he could not help himself from ever so often glancing at the handsome man who made the most breathtaking smile whenever he looked at one of the animals. It was almost unfair how good looking the guy was.

“That weird goth guy over there caught your attention?” Fuyuhiko suddenly asked him from behind the small bar when he caught his friend and colleague glancing at the black haired customer yet again. This also caught the attention of Hajime, who just like his younger twin brother, also was Kazuichi's childhood friend, and he walked up towards his friends to hear what was going on.

“Maybe.” Kazuichi replied with a silent voice as his eyes trailed towards Gundham again, “He is cute, but he's got a girlfriend.” Which made his good looks unfair, because why did all the good looking guys have to be straight?

“Maybe that's not his girlfriend and just a friend or cousin of him.” Hajime offered, however he didn't sound very convinced by his own suggestion.

As nice as his friend's attempt of lifting Kazuichi's hope was, it wasn't a very good attempt. “That girl is very obviously a foreigner so I doubt that they are related and she is seriously pretty for a girl, like she is a princess or something, so any guy who hangs out with her is either interested in her or seriously gay.”

“Good that you're 'seriously gay' then, so go ask him and stop whining like some bitch about some random girl that is sitting with him.” Fuyuhiko then commented and Kazuichi wasn't really sure if his friend was being condescending or not, because it was always hard to tell with him.

“Are ya crazy?!” Kazuichi jumped at the mere suggestion, “How would you like it if someone chats up Peko while you are there, because they just assume you're siblings or some shit and not married?”

“I would beat their face in if someone tried that shit!” Fuyuhiko worshipped the ground on which Peko walked ever since they were babies and tended to go a bit over the top when it was about his wife. At least Kazuichi found it a bit over the top, while Fuyuhiko claimed that this was the normal amount of worship towards a woman like Peko. Maybe Kazuichi was just that hopelessly single that he could not really comprehend his friend's emotions?

“Exactly!” Kazuichi said. “I don't wanna end up having some girl slap me because I tried to chat up her boyfriend while they are on a date, no matter how cute he is.” He seriously has had enough people in his life hitting him, he didn't need to find even more people to do it.

This made Fuyuhiko fall quiet. At least Kazuichi thought that this was the reason, until he heard a voice from behind him, “I would advise you to stop shouting around before the customers hear you and get back to work.” Turning around Kazuichi was faced with a set of red eyes that seemed to be glowing from behind a set of ridiculously long black hair that was tied into a messy bun. Izuru never failed to give Kazuichi a heart attack with his tendency to seemingly appear out of thin air and look like some demon that stalked people during the night. He will never understand how girls and guys alike tended to flock the café just to see the creepy guy, who made no secret out his dislike for the admiration he received.

While Izuru wasn't in any way dangerous despite his looks, Kazuichi and Fuyuhiko both quickly returned to their work just in case. No need to play with fire and piss of the guy who decided on their shifts. The only one who was relaxed about being caught at slacking off was Hajime, as Izuru did have a slight brother complex and tended to do anything his older twin asked for, even if Hajime himself sometimes complained about it.

Time flew buy and Kazuichi continued to serve the customers that came and went. After some time the young, foreign woman called him over to pay and after a long goodbye she and her date left the café together. It actually made Kazuichi a bit sad to see them go, since he did like this Gundham guy despite the fact that until the end the shy seeming man hardly managed to talk properly.

***

“You like him, don't you?” the She-Cat suddenly asked out of the blue, making Gundham almost stumble over his own two feet.

“W-What?” Gundham caught himself in the last moment before his mortal form could meet the ground beneath, “I do not! What gives you this foolish impression?” He could feel his face burning hotter than the goddess of the sun from this.. this outrageous presumption! He was a lonely warrior and did not ' _like_ ' mortals like his ally was implying.

“Well for beginners you are still blushing all the ways to your ears and then your voice broke with ever new word from our waiter. Also it is very obvious that you are crushing on him, since you are very bad at hiding your feelings.” Sonia gave her usual sweet smile, however it had an aura of self-assurance and superiority which drowned any possible objections to her statement.

However Gundham was a man who yielded the darkest of powers and as such he would not relent to her whims, “I do not! While I do admit that this mortal did look, as other mortal beings might call it, handsome, I do not harbour any silly feelings for him. That is a foolish assumption for which I will not stand!”

“Yes you do. It is written all over your face.” Sonia relied simply and Gundham began to fear that his ally would not give in and admit that her foolish assumption just that; foolish! Foolish and nothing more to assume that he, the Overlord of Ice and tamer of the most hellish of beasts, would be infatuated with a mere mortal with bright eyes that shone like the stars themselves, a lovely smile that managed to make a mortal addicted to seeing it and a slight sway to his hips that could mesmerise whichever being dared to look.

It was foolish to assume that Gundham was in love with this waiter!

It was also foolish to ever believe that it was anything more than a coincidence that Gundham found himself at the same café on the next day during his lunch break, instead of returning to his private realm as he would do usually. He had simply returned as he had to admit that he enjoyed the culinary skills that the chef possessed and because he enjoyed the company of the hellish beasts residing within this realm. He also had to fulfil his duty as a veterinarian and check if any of the animals might feel unwell, which could be easily overlooked by the working staff due to the sheer number of hellish beasts.

Gundham did also not feel disappointment when he took a seat within the realm and had a waiter attend to him with wild brown hair and green eyes, while the lovely looking waiter with the pink hair and eyes was nowhere to be seen. As he only came to this establishment for the flavourful food and powerful hellish beasts, which were both provided in the plenty, he did not have any reason to feel disappointment at all.

There was also no reason for his heart to skip a beat when his ears happened to overhear the siren like voice from the day before as the enchanting beauty appeared from behind an employees only area.

***

The first thing Kazuichi heard when he returned from his break was Hajime's teasing voice, “Kaz, your boyfriend is back. Take over for me while I go on break, will you?” he pointed towards the man from yesterday, who was sitting at one of the small single tables together with almost all the animals that again seemed to flock around him.

“He isn't my boyfriend.” Kazuichi retorted to his friend, who only laughed.

To his dismay another voice chirped in, “Kazuichi met someone? That is wonderful!” Kazuichi hadn't even noticed Hajime's fiancé Nagito, until the man spoke up.

Before Nagito could go and begin one of his usual monologues about hope and life, Kazuichi quickly replied, “As I said, he isn't my boyfriend, so don't even try it.” He could never understand what exactly made Hajime fall in love with someone eccentric like Nagito. The guy may be friendly to a fault and so rich that it was laughable, however the guy had a bad tendency to get lost within his own little world which was partly because of mental problems. He was a good friend and probably also a great partner for Hajime, but he was a handful. “Anyway go on your break now and take your lovesick fiancé with ya.” Kazuichi then said and went back to work. He really had too many friends in relationships. He only had friends in relationships, which made it always very painfully obvious how hopelessly single he himself was.

The world was seriously unfair.

***

The moment when the enchanting mortal had entered the main area of this realm, Gundham could not take his eyes from him. He had heard how the mortal had been talking with some of his co-workers and some additional mortal, however he could not make out what they were saying and it was none of his business anyway. He was only at this establishment to reenergize his mortal form so that he could perform his duties during the remainder of the day.

If only his cursed eyes would listen to him and not always drift towards the mortal with the wild, pink hair and an angelic laugh within his voice.

To make matter worse, the breathtaking mortal seemed to have noticed Gundham looking at him and walked up towards him. Gundham made himself prepared to be told off, as he was very aware that constantly glancing at other mortals for no apparent reason was not something one should do ever. However the waiter only smiled as he pointed towards the empty chair in front of Gundham – empty aside from the cat that decided to take a nap on it. “Without your girlfriend today?”

Gundham's eyes widened with surprise and his voice had a slightly higher pitch than he would have liked “M-My what?” About whom was the mortal taking about? He did not have a mate of the romantic kind, let alone a female one.

“That pretty blond girl who was with ya last time.” the waiter explained further, looking slightly surprised at the confusion of his customer.

“Oh, the She-Cat is not my girlfriend, as you call it. She is merely an ally of mine.” The waiter had not been the first to mistake her as Gundham's mate, as many mortals had the tendency to assume that any male and female who were close and not related by blood had to be within a romantic relationship. “I am actually not interested in the female species in such a way, as she is not interested in the male species of our kind.” Even if he were, he was not sure if he would seek her out as a mate as his adoration for her was more of a familiar kind of way, just like he adored his mother.

“Oh..” the waiter replied, not showing his thoughts on this kind of topic. At least until his eyes widened as it seemed like the true meaning of Gundham's words had only just reached him. “Wait, you're both also gay?”

This caught Gundham's full attention, yet he was not sure if he did hear correctly or if it was only his mind playing a trick on him. “Also?”

“Ah, nothing.” the waiter blushed as he cleared his throat, “Anyway, can I bring ya anything? Maybe a new cup of tea or maybe a small extra to eat? Or maybe some treats for the... many... animals around ya.” his eyes trailed towards the hellish beasts that completely surrounded them now. Gundham always had a hidden skill with hellish beasts and they tended to seek out his presence just as he did towards them.

“I would like to take you up on the offer with the tea.” Gundham replied, hoping that his voice did not again turn into a squeak like before. “Some offerings for these hellish beasts would also be appreciated, if you would be so kind.”

The waiter looked a bit bewildered by the way Gundham talked, yet did not comment on it aside from a cheerful, “Of course, just give me moment.” However as he tried to manoeuvrer past the many hellish beasts resting around the table, he placed his foot too close to one of the cats to their liking and the feline hissed, startling the mortal and making him loose his balance, before falling over onto the floor with a loud thumb.

A few mortal customer turned their attention towards the waiter, however Gundham did not heed them any attention and he instead quickly got up from his seat as he checked upon the well-being of the fallen mortal. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I'm fine.” the waiter replied with a tense voice, indicating that he was not feeling as fine as he was claiming and instead was experiencing at the very least mild pain. “The cat kinda doesn't like me very much, so this happens some times.” he explained with a bashful smile and he stood up with the help of Gundham, while he rubbed his lower back as he mumbled to himself, “Actually all of them don't like me very much.”

“Pardon?” Gundham asked at the last part, making the poor mortal jump ever so slightly at his slip of the tongue getting overheard.

“Ah, well... I'm actually not very good with animals, if I'm honest.” the waiter admitted bashfully, “Never quite learned how to really act 'round them, so they're not really the biggest fans of me.” The mortal looked deeply dejected by his fate, even if he tried to hide it behind a professional smile and Gundham could not help feeling bad about it, as every worthy mortal should have the opportunity to enjoy the presence of these powerful beings that shared the earthly realm with the mortal kind. And this mortal was more than worthy.

“I am a veterinarian.” Gundham suddenly blurred out without giving it much thought, making the waiter look with confusion at what the other was getting at. Before he made an even bigger fool out of himself, he quickly continued, “As such I am knowledgable about the arts of taming such hellish beasts and I could teach you if you wish.”

The offer made the waiter's cat-like eyes widen and he gave a tiny hint of a natural smile, “That would be really nice of you. It would make my job a lot easier, that's for sure.” However his smile vanished again and was switched with a more bashful and slightly dejected one again, “However as nice as the offer is, you're a customer and should relax while you're here and not need to teach some stranger how to do their job, so I really can't accept.”

Gundham could not bear seeing the lovely mortal looking this dejected, so he said the first thing that came to his mind, “And what if you were not a stranger to me?” He cringed at his own words, while the mortal looked at him with surprise. Yet it was now too late to take his words back.

The waiter was silent for a few moments as he seemed to look for an appropriate answer for the inappropriate suggestion from the other at his realm of working. After a moment the waiter then replied with an amused chuckle in his voice, which stunned Gundham, “Well I guess that could work.”

The small laugh that was hidden within the other's angelic voice made Gundham's heart skip a beat as his whole being was filled with pride that he managed to extract this reaction from the lovely mortal. Back to his usual self without any awkwardness filling his mortal form, he gave a dark grin, “I am known as Tanaka the Forbidden One!” Immediately and for the first time in his life he felt awkward about what he had said and blushed. “However you may call me Gundham, if you like.” he mumbled in mild shame, as most mortals tended to be put off by his nature and he did rather wish for this lovely being to like him.

However the lovely mortal seemed to be purely amused and held out his hand. “Well Gundham, I'm Kazuichi. Nice meeting ya.”

***

Days and weeks passed and Gundham visited the café many times, and whenever Kazuichi happened to be on shift at the same time he spend a lot of his work hours chatting with the cute veterinarian, while at the same time continuing his work – without any more problems with the animals in the café as Gundham's tips did actually work for Kazuichi. The veterinarian came so often that he was now considered a regular customer and all of the staff knew him, same with the blond woman, Sonia she was called as Kazuichi learned, who had accompanied him the first day and her girlfriend Kyoko, and also the owner of the gym next door, Nekomaru who happened to be a friend of Gundham and regularly trained him.

All of them were great people and Kazuichi enjoyed chatting with them whenever they came in. However he spend most of his time talking to Gundham, as they somehow were on the same wavelength despite their seemingly drastic differences in almost everything. The monochrome and gloomy looking animal lover with a sweet heart was the complete opposite of the brightly coloured, technology loving waiter who had a bad tendency for anxiety, yet they somehow hit if off right from the start.

However there was nothing more between them than a good relationship between a waiter and a regular customer. They never saw each other outside of the café and didn't really hang out as their chats were within Kazuichi's working hours and sometimes his breaks should Gundham happen to be there at the same time, which was more rare than often. As a nice of a thought it was, Kazuichi could not really believe that the cute guy would be interested in the waiter. Gundham was an animal loving occultist who looked like he was straight out a fantasy novel, while Kazuichi couldn't even keep a parrot and a cockatoo apart – for him they were just birds who may be able to talk, but he wasn't so sure about the last part. Kazuichi wasn't exactly the type of person he believed that Gundham would be interested in and as he had never asked to meet the other outside of work or maybe exchange contact details, he was quite sure that he was correct with his assumption. As sad as it made him, because he did like Gundham a lot.

It was raining outside – or if you asked Kazuichi, it was straight out pissing outside and he cursed that he didn't bring an umbrella with him today, because he was going to get soaked when he went back home later in the day – and the café was mostly empty as no one in their right mind was interested in going into a café during such shitty weather. Kazuichi was standing at the till and was polishing the drinking glasses to hopefully make the dog shaped clock on the wall tick faster and let him go home for the day. Hajime and Izuru were in the back and presumably talking about the shift plan for the next week, while Teruteru, their cook, was having a casual conversation with Ibuki who often came to the café to play some music for the customers.

The only other one in the café was Fuyuhiko, who walked up towards Kazuichi out of boredom. “Doesn't seem like your boyfriend is visiting today to see you.”

“Stop claiming that he comes here because of me, that ridiculous.” Kazuichi replied to his friend. He and the others had this nice new habit of teasingly claim that Gundham comes to the café because of Kazuichi. He really shouldn't have mentioned that he found him cute when he first visited. “He's a vet. He's here because of the animals.” He could hardly believe that he had to explain something so oblivious to someone who was supposedly smart.

“Sure.” the other replied with a jokingly sarcastic tone, like he was labelling Kazuichi as an idiot, “And the weird goth totally doesn't always leave way faster whenever your oblivious arse isn't on shift.”

This actually made Kazuichi halt in his movement for a moment. Was this true? It couldn't be, at least not in the way that he hoped it would be. “That's just coincidence or something.” he tried to shrug it off.

Sadly Fuyuhiko didn't take the bait and instead gave a smug grin, “Yeah right. Your boy toy also claims the same thing and still nobody believes him.” Then he actually turned more serious, “But seriously, you really need to get it into your thick head that he's coming every day to see you, you oblivious fucker.”

Kazuichi had to give a sigh at this, “Listen, I know that I said that I find him cute and all, but I seriously don't think that he comes here because of me. I mean he had been here during my shift often enough and he never said anything that could indicate anything. And as ya said yourself, he is also here often enough when I'm off duty, so there's that.”

“Well that's because he of course has no clue when your shifts are.” Fuyuhiko replied and leaned against the till, “It's not like he can ask us when your shifts are without sounding like some fucking creep and as I said, when you're not here he usually leaves straight after finishing his food.”

“That's obviously because of his work. He's still a vet who owns his own clinic, so his breaks are probably sometimes shorter than on other days, just like this stuff happens here.” Kazuichi said, “And also, if what ya said was true and he comes here every day in the hope that I'm here, then he would be here today. But he isn't because it's pissing down and no one in their right mind would go through all the trouble to walk all the way over here during their break to just casually chat with some random waiter instead of simply eating at their work.” He couldn't even comprehend how Fuyuhiko seriously expected Gundham to just come in to see Kazuichi even during this weather. Even for a teasingly joke between lifelong friends this was a bit far-fetched.

At least until the bell above the entrance gave a ring and none other than Gundham himself walked in, closing a drenched umbrella and placing it at the side without any knowledge that he had been the topic of their conversation just now. Kazuichi could literally feel Fuyuhiko's stupid smug grin that was stretching itself across his way too youthful face.

“I'll leave you to your boy toy then.”

“Oh, just shut your face and make some drinks.”

More days had passed and the rain didn't lessen any bit. In fact it seemed like it was getting worse by the day and was very adamant about making everyone's days miserable. There wasn't a day where Kazuichi didn't end up getting soaked during his way to work, even with the usage of an umbrella. It was so bad that he sometimes considered using the bus to get to work and just ignore his motion sickness. Only that motion sickness was hard to ignore and getting rained on was way better when he had to get changed into his uniform anyway and could hang up his soaked clothing inside of the break room, instead of puking his guts out.

However what was weird and way outside of Kazuichi's comprehension was that Gundham still visited every day during his lunch break at work. Kazuichi guessed that the veterinarian really loved animals, but it was a bit of a stretch that he loved them so much that he faced this dreadful weather every day.

Though for Kazuichi this wasn't remotely as weird as what was going on with his co-workers. At first he didn't really notice it at all, however he was suspecting that his friends were trying to play matchmakers and were painfully obvious about it even if they tried to be inconspicuous. At least Kazuichi guessed that they tried to be inconspicuous and just sucked at it.

The first thing he noticed was that his shifts have made a weird change by being placed mostly at midday instead of at different times during the week like before, which just happened to be at the same time where Gundham usually happened to visit. And his whole shift change just happened to begin right after he walked into Sonia visiting during one evening and having a conversation with the staff, before quickly leaving in a hurry without having anything to eat. Though the most obvious part about his shift change was when Kazuichi wanted to ask Izuru if he could change his shift one day and while he mentally prepared himself to having to listen to his friend complain about having to change the whole plan despite doing it every time he was asked, there was not a single word or even reaction from him aside from a silent nod in agreement. No complaining or anything, which was suspicious as hell and upon being asked if something was wrong, Izuru admitted in his usual bored tone of voice that Hajime asked him to agree to all shift changes in case Kazuichi – as his friends said it and Izuru quoted it – 'finally scored a date with his boyfriend'. That Kazuichi however only had an appointment with his eye doctor for a normal check up made the whole act of fake kindness more sad than anything else.

Yet what Kazuichi found the worst of all the things his friends were doing, and also the most obvious of them all, was whatever Ibuki and Teruteru were trying to do. He wasn't even sure if what they tried was to actually 'help' him getting closer to Gundham or make everything worse. Kazuichi really loved Ibuki like a sister and she was a great friend, but her skills with putting on convincing costumes were non existing and her brightly coloured and loud self made it always painfully obvious that she was trying to spy on him and Gundham whenever the latter was visiting the café during Kazuichi's shifts and they began chatting. It was even more painfully obvious that the songs she occasionally played suddenly turned from very weird metal to cringe worthy love songs whenever Gundham was there.

And whatever Teruteru was trying to do with his very _imaginative_ food he served towards Gundham, Kazuichi didn't even want to know. The only effect it had was that the poor guy was blushing all the way up to his ears and wasn't able to look anyone into the eyes for the rest of his stay. Truth to be told, Kazuichi was surprised that Gundham still continued to visit after that incident and he wouldn't have put it past him if he didn't.

Many people tended to call Kazuichi oblivious and slow, however his friends were obvious as hell and even he couldn't miss their weird attempts at matchmaking that were close to making him scream out with frustration. He may be bad at getting dates, however he should still be allowed to handle his own love life, no matter if he was the only single in his group of friend or not and that he was seriously crushing on a guy who didn't seem interested in the slightest made no difference in that matter.

Another day passed and it was finally sunny again, making it actually seem like summer and not autumn. After all that stuff going on at his work thanks to his friends, Kazuichi needed a bit of sunshine on his skin and maybe the opportunity to actually be outside from time to time without getting wet. If only he wasn't working today and suddenly every person in town seemingly decided to visit the café. It never was a good mixture to have a Saturday be the same day where the warm sun shined for the first time after ages of rain, while one had to work in customer service. Though there never was a good time to work in customer service.

Kazuichi and his co-workers hardly found a moment to breath between serving the guests their food, seating the new ones that came in and billing the ones that left again, while also taking care of the animals that currently were there. Gundham was also visiting that day, however Kazuichi wasn't able to really talk to him much aside from asking him if he wanted the usual.

Hours went by and slowly the café began to be more empty, giving the staff the opportunity to actually sit down for a moment. Kazuichi's feet were really beginning to hurt and he grew up in a bike workshop were he had to be on his feet for hours ever since he was old enough to know what a spanner was used for, which meant something in his opinion. He just wanted to sit for a bit, however he couldn't leave without making sure if all the customers were served and didn't need anything from him so he scanned the room. The old lady that came from time to time was eating her cake while petting the fluffy cat she favoured, the young couple that came in had only just gotten their order and hardly touched it yet so that they could play with one of the dogs. However his eyes widened with surprise when he spotted Gundham still sitting in his seat and was petting a bird's chest, while as usual most animals decided to flock around him.

Walking up towards him, Kazuichi asked him with confusion, “How come you're still here? You've been here for almost two hours now.” Usually this wasn't something he as a waiter was ever allowed to ask a customer, however Gundham was more his friend by now than a normal customer, so he guessed that it was fine.

The man seemed slightly embarrassed at the sudden question and he struggled for words to form. “I enjoyed my time with the hellish beast so much that I seemed to have lost the track of time.” he finally managed to say, however for some reason it sounded more like he himself wasn't convinced by what he had said.

“Oh, okay then.” Kazuichi decided to take him by the word for now, since he didn't want to poke around too much and maybe even irritate the usually shy guy. “Do ya want to pay then or do you want anything else?”

For a moment Gundham seemed to consider what he could answer, before he carefully asked for another cup of tea. With a nod Kazuichi brought him one, however he couldn't help but wonder if something was on his friend's mind. It seemed like the other wanted to say something or he was simply so embarrassed about being seen spending so much time alone in a café like some loner of something. At least Kazuichi himself always felt like one whenever he went somewhere on his own.

Setting the tea on the table he gave a friendly smile, “Here ya go. Anything else?”

Again it seemed like Gundham wanted to say something, however in the end he only shook his head, “No thank you. That would be enough.”

Kazuichi gave his friend a look. It seemed like Gundham wanted something, however Kazuichi had no clue what it was. So after scanning the café again to see if anyone needed him, which nobody did, he decided to casually ask, “Mind if I join ya for a bit? My feet are really hurting and I thought we could maybe chat for a bit before ya go.” It wasn't by far the first time that Kazuichi sat down at Gundham's table for a few minutes to talk and his colleagues often did the same whenever someone visited that they knew, so there was no harm done.

At the question Gundham's mood seemed to lighten and he gave a nod, “Please do.” at which Kazuichi gave a cheerful smile and he joined him for a few moments.

Only that a few moments turned out to be almost half 'n hour as the two were lost in their conversation with each other. To Kazuichi's amazement his friends actually served him and Gundham both a piece of cake on the house and simply said that this was now the waiter's break, telling him that he should just stay there and relax. It seemed like his friends' attempt at matchmaking actually had their good sides if he got to randomly take a break to chat with Gundham and actually got free food served.

Gundham seemed to be back to his usual dorky self, which pleased Kazuichi immensely. Either the other never had anything to begin with and really was simply embarrassed that he lost track of time that much or Kazuichi somehow managed to lift his mood without knowing how, which were both equally great.

Taking a bite from the sweet cake, which tasted like heaven in his opinion, Kazuichi asked the other, “Was it hard opening your own vet clinic?” He always guessed that most young veterinarians would first work at some big name clinic and not open their own small clinic just yet. “I mean this big clinic is almost around the corner, so I guess that many people would go there with their pets.” It wasn't that he didn't believe in Gundham's skills as a vet, considering with how much knowledge and adoration he talked about animals and how the animals seemed to adore him just as much. It was simply that he himself had quite a lot of experience with big chains pushing small family businesses out of business. That had happened to his family's workshop after some big chain opened up around the corner and everyone when there instead.

“Oh, do not worry about the clinic as my own realm of healing is not that close to here and most of my patients are mortals who live within my area.” Gundham reassured him, however Kazuichi was now seriously baffled.

“Wait a minute,” he had to slow the conversation down for a moment, because he wasn't sure what the other was trying to say just now, “how far is your clinic away?” It almost sounded like the clinic was actually farther away than what Kazuichi initially assumed, which couldn't be.

However Gundham answered in such a casual manner, that Kazuichi almost turned speechless at what he heard. “My realm of healing is close to the park at the edge of town.”

Kazuichi knew that place, since he often went there as a teenager to hang out with his friends. However that park was at least a twenty to thirty minutes foot walk away from this café and Gundham usually came during his breaks and weekends. Meaning he travelled all the way from there to this café to have his lunch here. “I thought it was around the corner or something.” Kazuichi said as he fully realised what his friend had been doing every day for some seriously weird reason. “Why did ya come here all the time instead of, ya know going home or something during your breaks?” He was seriously confused, especially since he remembered the veterinarian once mentioning that his apartment was quite close to his clinic. However nothing about this arrangement made any sense.

The question made Gundham blush and he awkwardly began to fumble with the scarf he always wore – as Kazuichi learned a gift from his late mother, which was sweet. It took him a few tries to get his voice to work without sounding all squeaky like from a child that was caught red-handed by stealing some candy. However after clearing his throat and fumbling with his words for a moment longer, the other then finally answered very awkwardly as he averted his eyes and his face began to blush in a deep red colour, “Well I have to admit that I enjoy having conversations with you and as such tried to find opportunities to visit this realm.”

Again Kazuichi found himself at a loss of words and he needed a moment for his brain to catch up to what his crush was saying. “Just that I understand ya correctly. Are ya telling me that you came all the way over here all the time just to talk to me instead of just asking me if we could hang out or something?” If he hadn't by now learned that Gundham was a bit odd, he would believe this to be a joke. However this was Gundham, the guy who talked like he was some fantasy villain and called himself a demonic being out of amusement, so this wasn't that far-fetched he guessed.

“Indeed.” Gundham admitted and his blush deepened even more, which actually was seriously cute in Kazuichi's opinion. “Though now that I think about it, I do admit that this course of action would have been more wise. And also more cheep than having my meals here every day.”

“Yeah, it probably would have been way cheaper.” Kazuichi just couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips, because he only just fully realised what a huge dork his crush actually was. But at least he was seriously cute. Clearing his throat to stop his giggling, Kazuichi then carefully asked with a mild blush on his own face now as well, “But now that we are at the topic... Do ya maybe want to grab a drink together or something?” Though before Gundham could answer, he quickly added, “Preferably not here.” He already realised that his friends were very _casually_ going after their work close to this table and were totally not eavesdropping into the conversation, while they just happened to not realise that Kazuichi was way over his usual break time.

A genuine and breathtaking smile appeared on Gundham's still heavily blushing face as he gave a nod, “I would like this prospect.”

Pulling his little notebook and pen out of his pocket, Kazuichi quickly wrote his mobile number down and handed it to Gundham, “Call me this evening and we can make something out. But I should return to work for now, so talk to ya later.” he then got up and happily got back to work, while ignoring the teasing from his friends as he was busy with watching Gundham leave with excitement after paying.

***

Another day had passed and Gundham could as usually proclaim with pride that it had been a successful one. He and his subordinates had healed many hellish beasts and they would continue their mission for every new day to come.

He enjoyed being a veterinarian and being honoured to dedicate his life to healing the hellish beasts that roamed this realm. Over the last year his small clinic had grown and more mortals began to regularly come in to ask for his skills in order to heal their trusted companions. Gundham was more than content with his current life as he closed up his clinic for the day and travelled back to his private realm.

As his private realm was not far from his realm of working, the travel was luckily short and upon opening his front door, Gundham was instantly greeted by his many hellish beasts who had been eagerly awaiting his return. It never failed to fill him with joy at witnessing their excitement at seeing him and he happily greeted them all.

However his attention as caught as another figure appeared and smiled at him. “Welcome back, Gundham.” Kazuichi walked up towards him and kissed him in greeting, which Gundham gladly returned. After parting from their embrace, his paramour pointed towards their kitchen, “Dinner's almost ready, so we can eat in a few moments.” With a smile on his face Kazuichi made his way into their kitchen to finish the mentioned meal, while Gundham followed him as his beloved began to talk about his day when they had been apart.

The hours had moved on as Gundham cared for his many hellish beasts and he spend his evening in relaxation together with Kazuichi, before exhaustion began to overtake their mortal forms and making them decide to rest for the night. When Gundham was lying in their bed, he could still see most of his surroundings within his sleeping quarters, despite the darkness. However when he felt a warm body cuddle into his arms he felt himself smile and he gently kissed Kazuichi's head, wishing the man he loved a good rest for the night, as he himself gently fell into the realm of his dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> If I am allowed to say this: I'm really proud about how this one turned out  
> For the last few weeks, months really, I have been seriously struggling with bad depression which made it impossible for me to write anything (which is one of the reasons why I hardly updated anything at all). Even having to host the Soudam Week felt like such a drag to me, because I just wasn't into it at all and I only organised it because people have been asking me to and not because I particularly wanted to if I am honest. However this story was the first where I really had fun writing it and it was like it was writing itself, making it almost impossible for me to stop. I did in fact write this whole thing in one day which is seriously impressive considering how long it is.  
> My writing hasn't been like this for ages now and always felt stale and forced, but this one is the first one that was different in my eyes. It's hard to explain  
> But anyway, I hope that you all had just as much fun reading this fic as I had writing it ♥


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